Yankees 6, Cardinals 4 (12): Brian Roberts lined a tiebreaking single in the top of the 12th inning as New York defeated St. Louis in the opener of their three-game series.

New York loaded the bases on two walks and a hit batsman against former Yankee Randy Choate (0-2) before Roberts drilled a one-out single to left field to score Jacoby Ellsbury. Pinch hitter Alfonso Soriano followed with a sacrifice fly and Brendan Ryan laced an RBI single to left later in the inning as New York won its third consecutive game.

Alfredo Aceves (1-2) pitched two scoreless innings and David Robertson allowed an unearned run before recording his 11th save. Jon Jay stroked an RBI double in the bottom of the 12th before Robertson retired the next two hitters to send the Cardinals to only their third loss in 12 games.

Ellsbury delivered a run-scoring single in the first to put New York ahead, but the Cardinals tied it in the bottom half as Matt Carpenter tripled and scored on a double by Kolten Wong. New York went back ahead in the fifth on an RBI single by Kelly Johnson and a sacrifice fly by Brett Gardner before St. Louis knotted it in the sixth on Allen Craig’s fielder’s choice and Jhonny Peralta’s sacrifice fly to right.

Cardinals starter Michael Wacha allowed three runs and four hits in seven innings. New York’s Chase Whitley was charged with three runs and eight hits over five-plus frames in his third major-league start.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Retiring Yankees SS Derek Jeter went 1-for-5 after being honored prior to the game, as were the 1964 Cardinals – who defeated New York in the World Series – with Hall-of-Fame pitcher Bob Gibson throwing out the first pitch to former batterymate Tim McCarver. … New York 1B Mark Teixeira was scratched from the lineup due to stiffness in his surgically repaired right wrist. … The start of the game was delayed an hour due to rain.